Outlaws
by meredithsorrows
Summary: *my first fanfic* Years after the rebellion, the Districts have gotten back on their feet and Katniss and Peeta's children are growing up. Iris, their teenage daughter goes to the Meadow to rest frequently until one day she stumbles upon outlaws, people who still rebel the Capitol, people she's met over and over in the woods, but are they all good? And should she trust them?
1. Chapter 1

I knew the Meadow was a graveyard, I had read about it once, my parents assumed I didn't know about the unspoken parts of the rebellion, but I knew more than they would have expected. It was a hot day, the sun beamed down on my face as I lay in the long grasses, listening to the sounds of the Mockingjays and the soft rustle of leaves in the trees, my mind wandered to the fact that I was probably lying on an unfortunate civilian of the old District 12, back when everyone was starving in peace, or so I was told.

The songs of the Mockingjays suddenly changed, their melodies became sweeter and longer, and I understood, _outlaw_, they screamed. Outlaws were rebels who wandered, they did not belong in any District, well maybe they did, but just refused to live there, believing it was abiding to the Capitol. They usually went unnoticed, peaceful, I had met many in my time of the woods, however, some burgled local stores and terrorized people, that was when measures were taken, they were tracked by the Peacekeepers and _'measures were taken'_, whatever they were...

I approached the rusting ruin of the ancient fence surrounding the woods, not very pretty, but it kept wild dogs and other animals out, it was no longer illegal to go into the woods, but many stayed away, my mother however had passed on all her knowledge and nature onto me. I loved the woods. The wire mesh let out a soft _umph _as I slipped under.

Delving deeper into the woods, the air got colder and the canopy thicker, I shivered, feeling the goosebumps on my flesh, not that it was very cold, I just felt something terribly wrong. Then I heard a cry, it pierced through the air, forcing everything else to mute, I ached for my bow and arrows, but they were safely stored away in my wardrobe, at home. A short while after, I also saw the figure.


	2. Chapter 2

Through the trees I saw the struggle. There was a girl, no older than twelve, the left side of her face hung in a bloody flap, blood gushing down her side, she wasn't a district 12 girl, that was for sure, her hair was jet black, skin very pale, she may have been pretty if her face hadn't been slashed, she cowered on the mossy forest floor, that now darkened with her crimson blood, she was screaming and crying and begging for mercy. My heart was on the verge of exploding out of my chest cavity, the man with his back turned to me stood over her, his sleek blonde hair glistening in the streams of sunlight that pierced the canopy, a knife dripping with blood was in one strong hand.

_This isn't happening, you're dreaming, it's heat stroke, yeah, heat stroke._ I bit hard on the inside of my cheek, until I could feel the coppery taste of blood, it brought tears to my eyes, a part of me screamed _get out of there_, but another screamed _save her. _I was smart enough to know saving her was feudal, without getting myself killed, and anyway, how would I attack a fully grown, muscular man? _With a stick,_ I thought with a touch of dark humour, I ached for my bow and arrows, mom and dad had given them to me for my thirteenth birthday for situations exactly like this.

I realised I was crying, and then, at the worst moment, the little girl looked at me, right at me, her eyes were so black and scared, and her lips started to for something like _help _when her throat was slit, and her eyes, still on mine turned glassy. _A lamb being slaughtered. _I had seen it many a time in the butchers, apparently, it was quick and painless. I thought otherwise, how could one know what it felt to die instantly? How could one know how it felt for your organs to just shut down all at once?

I took in as much air into my lungs, preparing myself to just scream and scream for bloody murder, literally, when a hand clamped my mouth and I screamed into the warm flesh. Obviously, I made a sound because the man turned around, he looked around and his eyes fell on me, he looked _right at me_ and grinned, his face smeared with the girls blood. I recognised the man, I had spoken time and time again with him, he frequently sat with a mug of coffee between his hands in our kitchen. Why isn't he violently stabbing me? I pondered._ Well isn't it obvious Iris? _He's leaving you for the Mister behind you right now.

Once the attacker left I turned, my eyes wide with fear, the hand let me go, I balled one of my fists at my side. Without even looking at the figure, I swung a punch and it landed with a crunch on the his cheekbone, and a pain that jolted up my arm. I jumped and ran, and I could hear him pursuing me, then my skirt, a long white and brown floral thing caught on a branch and I fell with a thud on the ground. He was on top of me, and I tried to hit him again, but he held me down, his weight on top of me, I didn't scream tough. His grip on my wrists was tight and hurt slightly, he leaned down towards my face, his breath was hot on the side of my face.  
"I won't hurt you" he said.

*thank you for reading I appreciate it sooo much*


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm going to let you go, and you will promise not do anything irrational" he said quietly, his voice was deep, the timbre quiet husky, I nodded my head, the back of my head making a scratching noise on the ground lightly, sustaining eye contact, like you would with a vicious hound. _If you don't break eye contact, he won't kill you._ _Maybe._ He hesitated, maybe for a minute too long, then let go all at once.

He got up, and stretched his hand out to me, I ignored it, yeah right I was going to trust some guy who just man handled me, and most likely was a psychopath. For the first time I realised how young he was and how breathtaking his eyes were, a sort of deep sea green that seemed to shine with peculiar silver. They reminded me of District 4 and visiting Aunt Annie later on, but at that moment all I could think of was the abnormal beating of my heart and the numbness.

"Are you going to stare me down to death?" he inquired sarcastically, my legs didn't feel like legs any more, as I slowly backed away  
"Who the hell are you?" I quaked, he put his hands up in mock surrender, and I was convinced he was going to snap my neck soon, but wanted to make sure I wouldn't put up a fight in the process. _Oh no, if I'm going to murder you, I'll do it once you're back is turned, so it'll be a capital B big surprise when you meet up with Uncle Finnick and Prim and all the others featured in that book your parents have. _My heart thudded faster, if that was even possible.  
"I'm someone who just saved your life!" he exclaimed, the words calmed me a little, and I took him in, the slight bruise on his cheekbone, the sandy brown hair in short curls, the way he stood, tall and lean and muscular in a slightly tatty, blue chequered shirt and dark blue jeans with a red patch sewn on one knee.

"I mean, what's your name? Why are you here?" I gasped slightly, my lungs were stinging for air as if I had been running for miles, I concentrated on my breathing  
"A-and why didn't you save her?" my head hurt as if someone was perpetually tugging at my brains. He frowned, and later on I would also realise how handsome he was, not in a_ 'if you squint and turn your head' _way,but in a full on, even the blind can see it way.  
"I'm Elias. Outlaw. I didn't save that girl because she was good as dead, all alone, that guy, the one that killed her isn't the only one who kills us, there's at least one psycho in every District who believes Outlaws are a lesser life form" he explained, with a slight curl of his lips in a smile, or maybe I had imagined it because the world started spinning the way it did on a merry -go-round , and started to get really stuffy and there seemed to be not enough air in the middle of a forest of all places.

"YOU STILL COULD HAVE SAVED HER" I shrieked, falling back against a tree, hyperventilating , tears in my eyes, I felt his hands on me, one stroking my arm a little, warm and slightly rough with calluses, he seemed to whisper something that was supposed to be soothing I guess, but all I could hear was the rush of blood in my ears, like the constant crashing of waves against titanic cliffs.  
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" I could hear slight parts of sentences _"you would have..." "useless" "not...time"._

I presume I had been quite hysterical, because I felt myself being shaken, but, hey, I had witnessed my first murder, and certainly not my last. _My first murder_ , as I think back it sounds like some kind of album or memory box. _Hey everyone, gather around, let's look inside Iris' First Witnessed Murder Box. How lovely..._.

"Are you listening to me?" he asked, rather kindly, I wheezed, and brought my hands to my eyes, oddly enough I hadn't been crying, I moved my head up and down, his callused fingers were under my chin and he made me look at him, his face was so close to mine, a truly beautiful yet rugged face, even though boys aren't supposed to be classified as beautiful .  
"You're going to go home. Ok? And you'll tell no one of this. That guy didn't see us, I think, so when you go back, you will act like nothing is wrong. Promise me." he explained, I bit my lip, I couldn't reply to him, it was as if I had forgotten how to speak.  
"_Promise me_" he said, it was as if he was _begging_ me, there was something that looked like pain in his eyes  
"Okay" I muttered, he stepped back from me and I walked past him, as calm as ever, not looking back.

Once I was sure he could not see me, I started to sob, my eyes stinging with tears, then I started to run. There was one thing Elias was wrong about, the man had seen me, and he had grinned, because I had seen his dark secret, and now I was linked to it, it was now my secret too.

*Ok this was really long (I realise the Chapters get longer each time I write), and I'm not sure if it's that good...but please review and tell me what you think. I appreciate it soooo much. Thank you for reading!*


	4. Chapter 4

_***Ok so I won't be on this for a while, so just bare with me. Also, I thank everyone who has been reading this thus far, and if you like the story please do follow or favourite it (or both :3). Don't be shy to review and tell me your thoughts, constructive criticism is welcome and I will try to keep it in mind to improve my work***_

_Creak._ In my slumber I heard the floorboards, not that I was really sleeping, more drifting on a sea of subconscious, with waves of reality crashing over me every now and then. I vaguely remember opening my eyes.

She stood at one side of my bed, looking down on me with cold, dead eyes, void of any emotion or even human quality. Blood dripped down her gaping cheek, the drops blooming red on the duvet beside me. The slash along her throat was like a grotesque grin, I had an urge to reach out and run my fingers along the angry wound.

Slowly and silently , she stretched her small hand out to me, pearly white and slightly transparent, terror rose in me in one great bubble, that hand was a sign of everything bad and deadly in the world we lived in, inviting you out to play. _Come with me Iris, we'll have such fun, go play in the Meadow. Remember that? Running and leaping with Ash, your mother and father laughing as you played. The bodies under you laughed too, their waiting for you, take my hand, I'll show you the way. _It was the attack of a rabid dog, the missed step going down the stairs, a rage filled row in the home, the creepy man on a dark, abandoned street.

It was as if I was petrified, I couldn't move or turn away. I felt her touch. The way her fingers were there, but not really, not in substance but in presence. My skin crawled with the cold spreading through my body as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over me. I scrunched my eyes closed. _She's not here, not here, not here, not here, not here, _I chanted in my mind until I realised my chants were echoing through the darkness and emptiness of my bedroom.

I looked around again, my eyes falling on every shape and shadow, now at the foot of my bed, where the moonlight fell in pale streams, I thought I saw her malicious smirk.

_***Sorry if this chapter is bit short***_


	5. Chapter 5

_***I'm hoping this chapter will tie up a few loose ends (and most likely create more:/). Also, thanking everyone that is reading this.***_

I woke up early that morning from a restless sleep, the sun had just newly risen, it seemed like a nice day to be outside. I had convinced myself that what I had seen that night, _that girl, _was all a dream, a powerful hallucination or a side effect of shock. Without my usual groggy early morning demeanour I got dressed, ripped denim shorts, a white sleeveless tank top and black sports shoes, an outfit in which one could run and jump and climb trees. I took my bow out of the wardrobe, placing it on my unmade bed and unzipping the black cover. I stroked the elegant black weapon, the flames engraved on it, vowing to take it everywhere with me, you see living in present day District 12, one developed a sense of security and did not need to take weapons, not even into the woods, because no one would attack you there, it was a _new age_ people, we are all _civil_ here. I placed the sheath of arrows on my back, adjusting the strap, so they were held in place properly. Before leaving my room I decided it was best to write mom and dad a note, not worry them. Simply, I just wrote in my slanting, slightly messy print:  
Gone hunting, I'll be back 'round noon, love, your missing daughter

They were still going to be angry I left so early, but at least I had a valid argument. I_ did _leave a note.  
Walking out the back door, I stuck it to a kitchen cupboard with a bit of sticky tape, just to make sure they would see it.

He opened the window on the second stone I had thrown. His usually slender, quite gauntly face was comically puffy, the eyes slits, showing little of the electric blue they usually were, the ice blond hair stood on end at different angles. A boy who had just been awoken from his deep, peaceful slumber.  
"Iris" he hissed down at me "Are you crazy? What are you _doing_? _It's six in the morning_"  
I pursed my lips, squinting up at him  
"SHHHH. Quil, I need you to come down, I need to tell you something, it's about-" my hurried loud-whisper was cut off as the sliding glass door opened, he stood in front of me, perfectly groomed, shaved, in a crisp light blue shirt.  
"Iris? What _are_ you doing here?" he asked, his voice jovial, but the look in his eyes hard and cold as stone, I glanced up at where Quil had been, the window was closed. _Some best friend.  
_

"I, I wanted to see if Quil wanted to go out hunting" I responded coolly, backing down the garden a little, he smiled again, giving me a look one would give to a naive little child  
"Aquilo hasn't gone hunting one day in his life, nor will he" he leered, _Yeah, because you'll kill him before that, don't want him to turn into one of those Capitol-rebelling creatures, do you?, _I thought to myself , I did not dare say it.  
"Now, why are you really here Iris?" he inquired, the smile gone, replaced by a dark look, that spread through his quite handsome, yet weathered face, I gripped my bow tighter, hoping I did not have to use it  
"I already told you" I answered, my voice shaking a little, I felt small and scared, as if I was four once again and Haymitch was on a drunken rampage. Mr. Rohan Gauri, originally of District 1, took three quick steps towards me, so fast, I forgot to react, his eyes were dark and wicked  
"Listen here, girl, you utter one small syllable about the woods and your life will be full of surprises" he said through his teeth, smirking, I stood my ground, although I felt physically sick  
"Is that a threat Mr. Gauri?" I said innocently, narrowing my eyes at him a little, he turned and started to stride towards his house, I watched him until he turned around again at the glass doors  
"Mockingjays won't be of any help, Ms. Mellark".

I was aware of his gaze on me as left his property.

I do not know why I went back to the woods, but I did, maybe it was to see if he had left, Elias, or maybe a part of me thought that he was a corpse in the ground, anyway, I went back. As I entered the woods, I could hear every sound, the soft rustle of leaves, the wings of a bird taking flight, the snapping of a twig under an animal's foot, the singing of other birds and the Mockingjays mimicking them. I let out a series of whistles. _Outlaw_. I knew how to communicate with these birds, in a weird way, I just _knew_, that is why I understood their calls the previous day. They responded to me in a chorus of what seemed like a thousand voices_. Outlaw._ The birds knew who was out of place in the woods, and they knew that Elias was not one of the district people, they knew and saw all, soaring in the sky, above the land.

It took me a ten minute wander to find him. He sat on the ground, beside a patch of freshly dug earth, there were white flowers placed on it.  
"Blue eyed girl" he said vaguely, startling me a little, even though I was the one creeping, I stood, frozen for a moment , I cleared my throat  
"Um, yeah, how did you know?" I asked, he turned his head in my direction, his eyes shining  
"The sound of your footsteps was light and confident, maybe a child, but children don't usually go into the woods by themselves and if they do, their footsteps are clumsy, most likely runaways. Second guess is a girl , and after meeting you yesterday, it was quite easy to figure out" he replied, I hesitated for a moment longer, then timidly walked over to his side and sat near him, leaving a comfortable space between us.

"My name's Iris actually" I told him, he did not pay attention,  
"Di-did you know her?" I asked again, softly, just in case he did, the ground where we sat at had been clearly disturbed, but most likely had been covered with moss and leaves, Mr. Gauri was too smart to leave a grave without camouflage.  
"No. She was passing by, with her grandfather I think , he had had a heart attack a while back, I guess she was going alone to wherever they were heading" he explained, I frowned, staring at the white flowers  
"If you didn't know her, how do you know about her grandfather?"  
"I was passing by when he died, back in District 10 or 11, there were other people that tried to aid him, I went unnoticed" I took this in, wanting to ask why he did not try to stop her slaughter, but thought better of it. Honestly, I did not want to know at that moment, I went by the excuse that he had his reasons.  
"Why do you rebel the Capitol, even now that everything has changed?" I asked instead, because that's what one asks a stranger, a sort of _"Oh hello, I don't know you, but do tell me of your lifestyle choices."_ He looked at me, a slight, crooked smile on his face,  
"You ask a lot of questions" he responded, I blushed a little, I didn't usually ask a lot of people, but everything just confused me.  
"I chose this because I had no choice" he finally told me.


	6. Chapter 6

***I know the last few chapters have been quite slow-going, including this one, but I needed to fill in the gaps about some stuff and build up to something that will happen (basically I had writer's block)*Sorry if this chapters a little short.**

**ALSO, don't forget to follow, favourite, review and all that jazz. :D**

The bruise flowered on his cheekbone in a purplish-blue hue, although it did not make him any less handsome, I felt the strange urge to just trace it with my fingers  
"Sorry" I muttered, he turned to me, as we walked in the forest, we had decided to search for game, instead of sitting at a dead girl's grave, he saw that my eyes were on his wound and smiled  
"It's fine, anyway, the colour, now that I think about it matches the Iris flower" he remarked, I couldn't contain my smile, as if his remark was a compliment  
"Oh, so you think it's funny?! Huh?" I nodded, he shoved at my arm playfully.

"So where do you live anyway? Or do you sort of just _wander _around aimlessly?" I pondered, he wasn't going to tell me anyways, but I had to ask, I watched him lick his lips, a sexy move, I found it weird to think about it _in that way_, I never really noticed boys, but then again no one I had ever met was like Elias.  
"Some wander, it's not like the olden days, where they plan rebellion and destruction, they just live in the woods, away from the Capitol rule. And others, they, live for a while in places, sometimes in the _districts_ themselves, they can do that you know, ask for refuge in a district, and, well, there's I can't tell you" I could not fathom why he referred to Outlaws as _they_, I didn't ask that either. Curiosity also pestered me about the unspoken option.  
"And what are you?" I asked hesitantly, he replied with the same hesitation  
"Option three, mostly"  
"And that is?" he gave me a broad grin  
"Did anyone ever tell you, you ask a lot of questions?"  
"Once or twice, but as they say, an enquiring mind, his a healthy mind"

He squinted up at the sun.  
"There's villages, towns, more like, all over the place, and it's houses, proper living standards, you know? There's like truce formed between the Capitol and them, a sort of,_ you stay away from me and we will stay away from you_, kind of thing. I was signed as a hunter/gatherer for a few months since I turned eighteen, mostly around the district twelve into eleven woods." Suddenly he turned to me, his expression serious, but not terrifying  
"You can't tell anyone I told you that, _anyone_" he said, a strange tone in his voice, _fear_, was it?  
"I won't" I gasped "I promise" he smiled faintly  
"Ok, let's find us some _game_!" he exclaimed

* * *

We did indeed hunt eventually, I shot a couple of birds and a rabbit, he located a few of his snares, shot a few rabbits with his own bow, although, his shooting was not as elegantly executed as mine, once or twice the poor animal was still alive, it's fur clotted with thick blood, slowly dying by the arrow jutting out of it at a weird angle as it squirmed, _you dumb animal, don't move, you make it worse_, I couldn't help think, until Elias ended it's pathetic last moments with a penknife and the little girl flashed in my mind.

Usually I just aimed for the head, wishing I could shoot like my mother, always clean through the eye, but trying to make it's death quick meant that I missed sometimes, where as Elias didn't, except, the birds, he had trouble with them. At noon, I excused myself on the grounds that I had promised to be home by then, he walked me to the edge of the woods. _How romantic, right? _  
"When are you going back to wherever you're from?" I inquired at last minute, he raised an eyebrow  
"Tomorrow. Why?" he replied, I guessed that someone would pick up the game that he shot that day, in some kind of elaborate trading schedule. The look on his face, seemed a little distrustful, but given the fact I did not shoot him when his back was turned made him seem at ease.  
"I'll come by tomorrow, _don't_ leave without seeing me. Oh and by the way, I'm not going to bring an angry mob with me" I stated, he gave me a crooked smile  
"Didn't doubt you for a second" he said. _Of course he did._

* * *

"Hey! Iris! What was the thing you woke me up at like six in the morning for?" the bright eyed and bushy tailed Aquilo Gauri asked me as I strolled across the town center, I turned to look up at him, he was really tall and skinny ,just skin and bones really.I guess he was handsome in a strange way, but I never really thought about it. His eyes wandered to the game at my hip, a slight look of disgust crossed his face but he wiped it away quickly with a grin, not Elias' crooked grin, more a sort of sharky thing that might have scared some. _Boy, if you think, my game is disgusting, you should have seen that one rabbit, caught in the snare, in half, guts were- _I forced the image out of my mind.

"It was nothing, just wanted to see if you would go hunting with me" I lied, knowing I should for the sake of my family, he raised his eyebrow, in his usual bizarre way, where the brow jutted up at a sharp angle.  
"Don't bullshit me" he laughed, I started walking faster, he matched my stride with his long, spider -like legs  
"Seriously, tell me, you're acting _really _weird" he said, I managed a fake smile at him, which he could see was fake, but it was better than nothing. He had been my best friend since we were seven, I mean, I had other friends too, but he was the only one I really liked, although we were both so different. When we were children he used to be the one crying when he scraped his knee a little, or he would scowl if you threw dirt on him. He used to be just a scrawny little kid and a lot of people bullied him, _I _had been taller than him at one point, that's how we became friends, I stood up for him, but soon, he became the scrawny kid that was a head taller than everybody, that sort of intimidated everyone and the fact his daddy was the mayor's right hand man just made the teasing and the pushing stop altogether.  
"I need to go home, okay?" I said softly, he sucked his cheeks in, looking like a skeleton with really bright eyes more than ever.  
"I will find out what's up!" he called after me as I walked home, the game hitting against my thigh  
"Yeah" I called back  
"I won't stop pestering you until I do!"  
"Mmmm-hmmh"  
"I'm not going to forget this!"  
"Yep"

I knew he wasn't going to find out, in fact he would forget all about it by the end of the day.


End file.
